Finding gold items w/ Pioneer 505?

[doc-jim]

[size=medium] Who out there has had luck finding gold with the 505? What Mode was used? I got my 505 less than a month ago & mostly searched in Auto Notch. At home the machine worked well when passed over gold rings & some gold items but I have not found any in the field. I possibly have not passed over any but cannot be sure.. I have dug more than a few bits of foil & trash items when I get a low signal. Auto Notch certainly reduces the PullTab signals I was getting while still registered my gold test targets. I recently started using DISC mode set to cancel medium iron nail (about 12 Oclock ) in case Auto Notch was missing gold items but do get more junk targets without increasing my yield.
How about it, Anyone find gold items in Auto Notch? How about other settings? If so please describe. I just want to make sure I am not missing some great finds.. DOC [/size]

 

[mlamp20412]

Can't say I have found any gold rings, but I believe auto notch does tune out pulltabs, which is the same signal for a lot of gold rings. Really delicate gold rings would be in the foil range. From what I have read, you really will dig a lot of trash to find gold, if you are not digging trash you are discriminating out the gold.....

HH-

 

[mwaynebennett]

The problem with "gold" is what exactly is "gold?"
Pure gold is 24k. Many men's rings are alloyed with other metals to make them harder and more durable. Many are in the 10K range, making them only about 42% gold.

Because of the differences in alloy, "gold" can show up anywhere from the "nickel/pulltab" range to the "zinc" range. That same range includes most non-iron "junk."

So if you want to find gold, only discriminate out iron and dig all the "junk" signals.:sad:

Mark
Elite 2200
WA St.

 

[Aces High 333]

I agree, I use to follow posts of a md'er ( I can't remember his name) he use a T-IV. He use to make the boys with the big toys drool with all the rings the he would find. He dug everything but he also knew where to hunt. My first ring came as I least expected it. I was using very little disc and at the beach. Hope this helped. Good luck, HHing

 

[Aces High 333]

I found a neat Youtube clip. Even tho he is using a Minelab you can pick up a few tips if you look close. At the end he shows you the ring he found and how that he digs up "rubbish" in order to find gold.
Beach hunting

 

[doc-jim]

[size=medium]I went from a T-IV to my 505 last month & can state withoput reservation that Auto-Notch blanks out most pulltabs.. I still get a few, but nothing compared with the T-IV in any mode.. I used to switch my T-IV between modes with the toggle to help ID targets better but the 505 has much better ID characteristics.. Especially by seperating the post 1982 (or zinc) pennies from copper & the depth meter. Both BH models like silver but I find many more dimes with the 505 (my latest "FIND" was a 1907 dime in a school yard..)
The thing is when I check the 505 with known targets Auto Notch ignores much of the small aluminum trash but I get good signals with my rings & small gold items. These include a 20K, & 10K rings as well as gold coins from quarter size .999 fine to a small 10 mm diam 10K token. These sound in the low end of the scale at foil to pulltab range IN the Auto Notch Mode.
I know that a general rule of MD'ing is you will not find gold without pulltabs but wonder just how effective Auto Notch is... As stated, I get gold readings in AutoNotch at home, I just wondered if it is exclusive enough to hit on Gold while blocking the trash.. I actually expect that given the rarity of gold vs silver or clad coins I have not yet been lucky enough to hit on any yet. I want to clarify that while Auto Notch blanks many pulltabs I still get hits in that range from other trash.
I will keep on trying & using Disc Mode more lately so will post any results I get. DOC[/size]

 

[capt.]

The gold ring I found rang up in the pt/5 area. Putting my and my wife's weddings together with the ring I found in a pile rang up in the pulltab area. I was trying to simulate a bulkier ring. I usually scan in all metal mode ( if trash allows ) and switch to discriminate all metal mode when I locate a target. If it rings true and stays out of the iron/foil area I dig it. Otherwise I will slowly swing in auto notch. Keep in mind that when in auto notch or discriminate mode, only the smaller inner coil will react to a target so remember to overlap your coil by half every swing. What it does at home it will do in the field. That auto notch feature is the best thing since sliced bread. Continue spending time with it and trying different things. It is a remarkable machine and the more situations you try out the more it will show you. Good luck and happy hunting.

capt.

 

[koski19]

I'd like to add that I found a 14k gold necklace with a charm while using my Pioneer 202. I don't recall what mode
I was in. I live in Nevada and plan to use this detector as a nugget shooter next spring when the ground thaws.
I'll use the 4" gold coil. Does anyone have any expereince using the BH 202 as a nugget shooter? Care to share
your experiences?
Thanks
Jeff

 

[doc-jim]

Finally warmed up enough to get out again... We had a Blizzard here in N Texas on Christmas Eve with more snow & colder temps than we can recall for quite awhile! Followed by another, though less severe, on New Years Eve.. I had wanted to take advantage of Christmas break to hunt the Jr High & High School Fields but the weather was uncooperative to say the least.... Good news was within 2 hrs this afternoon I found over $4.50 in coin & a Silver Pope John Paul II medallion. All in an area about 20' X 20' in front of a refreshment stand.. Over at the Jr High, when I was able to go, I had found 2 rings, (1 Silver plated the other .925 silver but missing stone) as well as a 1919 Silver Half Peso, a 1942 & a 1907 dime, & well over $8 in coin .. A satisfactory Holiday outcome by all means considering the loss of many hunting days, but I still have not met my goal of finding that first Gold item with my 505... Maybe in 2010 ? DOC

 

[salmonriverhotrock]

The weather down here in the canyon has warmed so got out to try some detecting today.

First place I went to up river turned out to be shadowed most of the day by the mountains and could only dig about half an inch down in the frozen dirt. It is a camp and boat launch area and is very trashed out with melted aluminum. Went down river to a highway pull out and gave it a try. Found a Dime and Zinc Penny plus the normal abundance of pull tabs and assorted junk.

Moved on down river to a public access camp and boat launch. Here, the ground is also heavily trashed with pull tabs and melted aluminum from all the years of old and new random camp fire pits. There used to be two old homes there plus other structures that were burned down when the State took it for a right of way. Ran the 505 with the standard 8' coil in the discriminate mode but finally put it in the Auto Notch Mode. Found one Zinc and two Coppers plus a coin shaped piece a little larger than a quarter. At first I thought it was an electrical box knock out plug but it's not. One side is convex, the other clearly machine recessed, is not magnetic, galvanized, or rusted but is partly tarnished black while other parts are a Silver finish look and at one place on the edge, looks like it had been attached to possibly a very small hinge. Could be a lid or cover to a watch or locket. Never found the rest of it but detects at the lower part of the silver spectrum. Could be it is silver plated. Sounds much like a silver dollar when dropped on a table. Nothing to brag about but was a few hours out swinging the 505.

 

[capt.]

Hey DOC, sounds like that school is a winner for sure. I am suffering from withdrawls on this boat. 13 days to go before I can do anything with a detector.

Robert, any day detecting is a good day to me, and looks like to you too. You guys keep at it... It helps keep me sane to read about someone elses adventures, next best thing to being there.

capt.

 

[salmonriverhotrock]

Don't want the good Skipper jumping boat when he's counting down a Short Timers Rope so I'll try to put another detect day in for ya tomorrow after laundry.

Red skies at night, Sailors MD delight.

 

[salmonriverhotrock]

Did laundry this morning but we had freezing temperatures last night.

Took a drive north around noon to another location and found .22 cents, 2 pieces of what we steelhead fisherman call "pencil lead" each about an inch long X 1/4" round used for sinkers, and two other pieces of lead, one a thin 1/8" in sheet form about 2" wide that something was cut out from and the other about a 1/2" thick but looked as if torn away around the edges and maybe 3" X 4 1/2". The pencil lead rang up on the PT/5 cent indicator but though it sounded much like a pull tab or nickle tone, the sound of the tone convinced me to dig it but was not enough to convince me it was truly a nickle in the Auto Notch mode at 100% Sensitivity.

The coins were 2 dimes within a half a foot of each other on the surface but under tall grass laid over by winter and one Zinc and Copper pennies buried in the more well used area. I found the dimes by following a hunch in my gut. When ya get the feeling, follow it. The temperature was around 43 degrees, the ground in this area almost completely froze but I was able to wiggle a thin shank digging tool down through the frost layer off to the side of the pin point location and then pry and lift from bottom up to retrieve the buried items. The days are short here and by the time I get off work, there will not be enough time to MD so maybe next weekend. Though the rain and snow are to thin out a bit here, night time temperatures will be freezing in the 20's this next week.

Good week to all

 

[Aces High 333]

Here in N.FL lows 40's -50's week days..... 20's on the weekends... Go figure. I don't mind the temp it's the wind that bites...